Five Pilots and One Old Truck
by Stariceling
Summary: Set at the end of the series. Four Gundam pilot's reactions to Quatre. (Spoilers for last few episodes)
1. Trowa's POV

Set right after the last episode of the series. Each chapter shows the same scene from the point of view of a different pilot. (Originally written in 2006, but I still really like it.)

* * *

I didn't think this would turn into such a problem. I'm sure Quatre was strong enough to fight when I helped him into his Gundam. Not that I had much time to assess his situation, but he was obviously ready and willing to go. Luckily that last battle wasn't something he needed to be standing for.

The point is, I thought he was fine. He'd probably need to see a doctor as soon as possible, but he'd be fine. I should have paid more attention to the fact that he was so willing to accept my support.

I don't know how we all ended up in one truck. I'm probably only driving because I got here first. Heero was supporting Quatre, so I took the first job available.

I'm not sure which is more surprising, Heero picking up Quatre as if he doesn't weigh a thing and making it clear that he needs a doctor, or Duo and Wufei clambering in after him and clustering around Quatre.

Probably the second. Heero is nothing if not practical, and Quatre obviously needed medical attention.

I guess they're just worried about him. I'm worried about him myself, so I shouldn't find it that strange. He tends to have that effect on people. Even when I know he can take care of himself, even when I know how dangerous he can be, I still feel that way. Maybe because I know he worries for the rest of us. It sort of stirs up this feeling that I have to respond in kind, as if his caring makes him somehow more vulnerable. I suspect it gives him more strength. Maybe it gives him more of a purpose.

My thoughts are rambling. I want to look back to check on Quatre, but I can't take my eyes off the road. 'Road' is honestly too kind of a word for it. I know all this jolting has to be hard on Quatre. Every time the truck lurches I want to look back to check on him.

I want to get there as fast as possible, but I also want to go carefully enough to be sure that he's not bleeding again. The only reason I'm not back there with him is that Heero got to him first.

Everyone really is concerned about him. Even Wufei. I'm don't think I've ever seen him upset, but it seemed like something was bothering him while he was helping Heero get Quatre into the back. Duo too, though he has a bit of a spastic streak. Sometimes he just needs to act, so I'm willing to accept most things coming from him.

"Don't you know how to drive!?"

Case in point. "I know what I'm doing."

Somehow I'm not annoyed. Duo might be a little too energetic, but at least he's on our side. At least he's so upset because of Quatre being injured.

Another bad patch, I think that last bump just jolted something in my spine. It wouldn't have been so bad if I didn't have to be going so fast. I hope Quatre's all right. I think I heard him gasp.

Wufei's muttering something now. Sounds like cursing, but I'm not sure. Whatever it is, it can't be good. I know I can't turn back to look now, I'll probably just make whatever it is worse.

"You're hurting him!"

Was that directed at me or Heero? Heero will have to deal with it, either way. I don't have time or energy to be fighting with Duo right now.

"Shut up." Wufei's handling it. He'd better not be tormenting Quatre back there. Duo's growling at him. At least, I think that's what that sound is.

"It's fine."

I don't know if it's a good sign or a bad sign that Quatre's protesting his health. The fact that he has to at all is telling, and he told me he was fine when I put him into his Gundam, when I knew he wasn't. Then again, he's well enough to protest and think he can get away with it. That has to be a good sign.

At least we're finally coming to a paved road. One last jolt and we're up on the pavement and I can stop worrying about hurting Quatre, or sending him flying.

"Quatre?" That's Duo's voice again. What's happened now?

"I'm fine."

"Not exactly fine." I want to know what Wufei means by that. Did those two really hurt him? Or was it my driving? What's happened?

"You're more comfortable than Heero," Quatre tells someone.

I fight it for a minute, trying to keep my eyes on the road, but that last comment did it. I have to look. I have to know what's going on back there.

Quatre's lying in Duo's lap now. When did that happen? I thought Heero had him. Duo's giving him the strangest look.

Eyes back on the road. I'm not sure what to think of what I've seen. Who knows what kind of argument Duo and Heero have gotten in over Quatre's situation. I don't really care too much about that.

What bothers me was Wufei's hands. Specifically, where his hands were on Quatre. I'm sure I saw blood on the bandage between his fingers, as if he was putting pressure on Quatre's re-opened wound and just didn't bother to take his hands away.

I don't like the thought of Quatre's wound tearing open again one bit.

It's possible to really speed now, so I press the pedal down to the floor. The sooner Quatre can get somewhere with medical attention, the sooner this will all be over.

The three of them really are concerned about him. I can see that much without having to glance back again. I guess he just inspires that in people. We should all know better by now, but here we all are. He's hurt, and we have to do something.


	2. Duo's POV

I can't believe Quatre didn't say anything.

As soon as Trowa wrestled his suit off and I say the blood, the first thought in my head was that I couldn't believe I didn't notice that something was wrong.

I thought he looked normal. A little woozy, maybe, but we're all a little off sometimes. Who wouldn't be? More importantly, who wouldn't be shaken by a gut wound like that?

Quatre, apparently. Just slap a pressure bandage on it and go save the world like it's just another day. I thought he was a normal guy, maybe the most level headed of all of us, at least of most of the time. . .

Turns out he's just as crazy as Heero if you give him the chance. At least he has the sense to be regretting it now. Not that I want to see him in this much pain, but at least he's acting human about it now.

Heero's got him in his lap now, trying to hold him steady. This has got to be the worst road I've ever been on. He can't even sit up. We're just trying to keep him from tearing his wound open again, not that there's much we can do, but we're still trying.

I'm guessing that's why Heero's clutching him so hard. He probably has the best chance of hanging onto him and keeping him from moving out of the three of us. Otherwise I'd have Quatre out of his grip in a moment. I suspect he's leaving bruises, he's grabbing him so hard.

"Don't you know how to drive!?" I demand. I know I shouldn't take it out on Trowa, but I can see Quatre tense with every jolt. Quatre's not saying anything about it, so someone has to.

"I know what I'm doing!"

I know Trowa's doing his best. I know he's got enough to deal with just trying to keep things smooth for Quatre. I can't help it. I gather that he knew that Quatre was hurt, and let him do what he wanted anyway. I'm pissed about that. None of the rest of us knew.

He just whispered something to Heero. I'm intrigued, because whatever it was, I think it made Heero loosen his grip a little bit.

That has to be the roughest patch we've gone over yet, because it's the first one to get a noise out of Quatre, even if it's just a gasp.

I hope it's nothing, but Wufei shifts out of the corner he was sitting in to kneel over Quatre. I think he's cursing, and just as he presses his hands over the bandages I see blood soaking through. Quatre must have torn his wound open again.

I cover Wufei's hands with my own and press down on Quatre. It probably hurts for him, but we can't just let him bleed. Besides, I think I'll go crazy if I have to sit here and do nothing any longer.

I can see Quatre's muscles tense as he tries to sit up. Heero's holding him down hard. His fingers are digging into Quatre's shoulders.

"You're hurting him," I accuse. I'm sure there are other, more painful things, including Wufei and I trying to stop the bleeding, but Heero is convenient.

"I'm not," Heero mutters. He's not really paying attention to me.

"Shut up," Wufei snaps at me. I growl back, annoyed.

"It's fine."

Quatre just reached up and squeezed Heero's hand. What was that about? He's limp now, just letting us hang on to him. I don't believe him, but it's sort of a relief that he's still stubborn enough to insist that he's fine.

Wufei's still giving me that look. I guess I should take my hands off since he's controlling the pressure. I want to be doing something for him, though. I should have just volunteered to drive, though I really didn't have the chance. Trowa beat me too it.

There's another bump and we're up onto what feels like an actual road. That's a relief. That means Quatre shouldn't be tossed around anymore.

Heero's shifting Quatre up out of his lap now. He could at least support him, even if we're not getting jolted around wildly anymore. He's pushing him towards me, and I reach instinctively to catch him and guide him into my own lap. He can at least have a comfortable place to lie.

Heero lets go as soon as I have a good grip on Quatre. He sits up and turns to look out past Trowa, leaving me to get Quatre settled again.

"Jerk," I want to mutter at the back of his head. What am I supposed to do with him? At least he hasn't done any irreparable damage.

To be honest, I'm grateful to have something to do for Quatre. Not that I think Heero knew that. He probably just didn't want the stress of holding Quatre once someone else could take the job just as well.

"Quatre?" I'm wondering if he's is going to need a blood transfusion. Wufei's still pressing on the wound, but it doesn't look like he's still bleeding. He's not pressing very hard, though, just enough to be safe. I'm sort of glad that his hands are there, for Quatre's sake.

"I'm fine."

"Not exactly fine," Wufei argues. I'm inclined to agree with him. Quatre's smiling weakly at both of us. He's still trying to appear cheerful.

Quatre lets out a little sigh. He's just about limp in my lap now. I'm not sure if this is a bad sign, but at least he's not going to hurt himself even more by trying to do something stupid.

"You're more comfortable that Heero."

Now that's an interesting thing to hear. I catch Heero's eye and raise one eyebrow. I think Quatre's losing it.

Heero just shrugs at me, he doesn't know either. Anyway, Quatre's my responsibility now, and I know I can take care of him.


	3. Heero's POV

How did I end up here? I'm crammed in the back of a rickety old truck with two people leaning over me and a third sprawled in my lap. I gave up being bothered by tight spaces years ago, but this is a brand new kind of discomfort.

I'm not going to begrudge Quatre his spot in my lap. I'm just trying to keep him as still as possible at this point, and at least he's cooperating with me.

I didn't know he was hurt. I want to say that I had a feeling something was wrong, but it wasn't affecting his performance so I didn't really pay attention to it. I'm sure I should have paid more attention.

It shouldn't really matter. I should just acknowledge that he was skilled enough to fight in his condition and move on. I've done the same, and it hasn't left any lingering problems.

It's a little different for me watching him. It's almost painful watching, because he's in pain, and he's trying not to show it, and he is failing miserably.

I hate watching, more than I would hate being the injured one. If it was me at least I could focus on moving and breathing around the pain. I could focus on blocking the pain out of my mind. Now I'm just clenching my hands on his shoulders to keep him still, and trying not to feel annoyed because I can see him biting the inside of his mouth to be silent.

I'm sure I could manage to do something else if I could find another job.

Duo is getting twitchy. He probably has the same problem, too much adrenalin and nothing to do with it. I wish he could at least sit still if he's going to be right next to Quatre.

I almost considered giving him Quatre, knowing that the feeling of having something to do would calm him down. It's just this road is too rough for me to trust anyone else to be steady enough. I want to be the one to be holding onto him, protecting him. I'm selfish that way. I've stolen the most important job for myself, as if no one else can do it properly.

"Don't you know how to drive!?" he snaps at Trowa as we go over another rough spot. Now he's lashing out just to calm his nerves. We can't take him anywhere.

"I know what I'm doing."

Quatre's smiling up at me. If he meant it to be a comforting gesture, that's lost by how strained his expression is. "Sorry to inconvenience you," he whispers to me.

I just make a noise of acknowledgment and loosen my grip a little. What am I supposed to say to that? If I was using my full strength to hold him, I'd risk hurting him even more badly. He's no trouble to look after, just a little bit of a worry.

I should have known better than to lighten up on him. As soon as I loosen my grip a little Trowa finds another rough spot. I can see Quatre clench his muscles when we hit it. Then he lets out a gasp of pain and tenses further.

Wufei moves in quickly, pressing both hands over Quatre's stomach. I can see a tinge of blood seeping into Quatre's bandage between Wufei's hands. He's hissing something under his breath, probably commanding Quatre to keep still.

I clench my hands tight on Quatre's shoulders again, trying to remind him to relax, or at least to keep him from trying to sit up and hurting himself further.

Duo's got his hands clasped over Wufei's now, and he's glaring at me. Probably thinks I haven't been doing my job well enough.

"You're hurting him."

"I'm not," I shoot back, voice low. I don't really want to disturb Quatre with our arguing. I'm just trying to keep him from hurting himself even more. The last thing he needs now is the stress of trying to play diplomat between us.

"Shut up." Wufei interjects, talking over me. I can understand his vehemence in his voice. Both of us are already worn out. We don't need Duo and Quatre both wearing on our nerves, and Quatre can't help it. Duo just growls at him.

"It's fine." Quatre's gone still again. He reaches up to clasp my hand, to show me that it's okay again. I know. I can see that he's limp. I relax my grip on him again. It's useless clinging to him anyway, if I can't keep him from clenching the wrong muscles and tearing his wound open again.

With one last bump we hit what has to be a paved road at last. Finally.

I shift Quatre carefully out of my lap and towards Duo. At least he manages to catch Quatre safely. There's nothing vital that I can do for Quatre now that he can't. Hopefully with something to concentrate on he'll settle down.

Wufei moves with Quatre, keeping pressure on his wound. He doesn't even look at the two of us as he moves. Quatre has all of his attention right now.

Duo mutters something under his breath at me, most likely a half-hearted insult. I don't really care. He shifts his attention back to Quatre when I don't bother to respond.

"Quatre?"

"I'm fine," Quatre assures us.

"Not exactly fine," Wufei corrects him. Quatre just smiles weakly at all of us. He almost looks like he's just tired from our antics. I think I would like it if I could believe that he's really fine. He's going to need more practice before he can pretend well enough to make me ignore the bloodstains still visible between Wufei's fingers. I still hope he doesn't get any more practice.

Quatre's relaxed into Duo's lap now. He's practically melted into it. "You're more comfortable than Heero."

Duo looks up from his charge and raises an eyebrow at me. What? Am I supposed to be jealous? Probably some joke that I'm supposed to be in on that I didn't catch.

I shrug at him. Quatre is Duo's problem now, and he's perfectly capable of taking care of him. I'll make sure of it.


	4. Wufei's POV

I can't help feeling frustrated. I feel like I've been kept in the dark. No one bothered to mention to me that he was injured.

Not that we had much, if any, time to consider what to do with an injured ally. Not that we could have done a thing about it until now. Not that he let it keep him from doing his job. . .

Still, I would have liked some warning that Quatre would practically collapse getting out of his cockpit, or that Trowa was going to strip his shirt off, revealing a swath of bandages that I hadn't even known he needed, and drag all of us off to the nearest transportation to get Quatre to a hospital.

Actually he and Heero were too busy with Quatre to be dragging anyone. It just felt that way. Somehow I couldn't just let them run off and be left behind.

I shouldn't really mind that he kept us in the dark. He managed to pull his weight, even injured. I just want him to not be so cheerful about it. Someone who can go into battle wounded and come back without a single complaint, without so much as a mention, should at least be able to show an appropriately stoic and stony face afterward. Not Quatre. He keeps smiling at us.

If he can't even play at being fine well enough to fool us, he could at least just admit that he's in pain and let us get on with helping him. I hate watching that strained smile. It's more difficult watching him struggle to be cheerful for us than it would be if he would admit to us that he hurts. This hurts at least as much as being wounded myself, somehow.

He's concentrating too hard on trying to fool us. He tries to pretend it's nothing, but he's not fooling anyone. He might be able to deal with it better if he would focus on himself instead of us. Doesn't he know we're here trying to help him? What little help we can give, at least.

"Don't you know how to drive!?" Duo demands. If I didn't know him, I'd wonder why he's getting so animated about this that he's attacking Trowa. He just seems to react to everything that way. Unfortunately, I have no distraction from wondering why I'm reacting to this too.

Duo simply reacts. It doesn't seem like he usually stops to consider what he's doing before he speaks or acts. He's too quick. His brash honesty is as frustrating as Quatre's gentle deception in its own way.

"I know what I'm doing."

Out of the four of us, at least Trowa is stable. I admire him for that. Both he and Heero are managing to handle themselves just fine. Or, if they aren't, at least it doesn't show.

Quatre's whispering something to Heero, making him relax his grip, just a little. It's not that he's relaxing from relief. I can tell from his face and posture that he's not relaxed by whatever Quatre said. Maybe he was expecting it, but he's not happy about it.

We get another bad jolt, maybe the worst so far, and I can see Quatre tense, hear him gasp. I can't tell if it's from surprise or in an effort to not be flung out of Heero's lap. Maybe even an effort to sit up. What I know for sure is that I saw him tense the muscles in his stomach, where his wound is.

I curse Quatre's luck under my breath, and move forward to inspect the damage. I don't want to be still any longer, and here is something useful I can do for him.

I'm half sure that there will be blood, judging by the tiny gasp of pain that Quatre couldn't hide. I'd love to wrong, but when I press my hands over his bandages, I can feel it soaking up under my fingers.

I press down, intent on doing this simple thing for Quatre. A worn out pressure bandage isn't enough for this job. Duo puts his hands over mine, a useless gesture, but I won't begrudge it of him.

"You're hurting him," Duo shouts at Heero.

"I'm not," Heero murmurs under his breath, as if to himself.

"Shut up," I burst in, almost on top of Heero's words. Maybe he is hurting Quatre, gripping his shoulders too hard for comfort, but I'm glad he's restraining Quatre now and keeping him from doing even more damage. The feeling of Quatre's blood, sticky through the cloth, on my hands is worse than anything else right now.

I didn't think I would hate to see him injured. I would hold him together if I could. It seems as if he's been torn so deep that he might fly apart without my hands to hold him in. I would draw the pain out if I could, just so I wouldn't have to watch it. Doesn't he even know we're trying to care for him?

He touches Heero's hand and tells him, "It's fine." He's telling Heero it's okay that he wasn't still enough, perhaps. He knows we worry. He just doesn't appreciate it properly.

One last bump and we come up on to paved road. Heero starts shifting Quatre up out of his lap and Duo moves to steady him, pulling him into his own lap. It almost looks as if they choreographed that shift in advance.

I move with Quatre, keeping my hands on him. I'm sure he needs medical attention fast, but already the blood flow seems to be stopping. There's no way he'll bleed to death before we get him to a hospital. Even if it was a possibility, there is no way I would let it happen.

Duo mutters something under his breath at Heero, then looks down. "Quatre?" he says, probably hoping for Quatre to reassure him. I want to tell him not to encourage Quatre's lying.

"I'm fine," Quatre assures us. I feel ill.

"Not exactly fine," I correct him. I'm actually surprised at myself for phrasing it so gently, when he's putting me through so much trouble with his act.

He smiles at me. Such a quiet, weary look. What am I going to do with him?

He's relaxed, at least. Now that he's no longer being thrown around, maybe he won't be hurt any further. He turns his attention to Duo. Maybe he thinks Duo will be easier to fool. Maybe Duo just appreciates his act while I don't.

"You're more comfortable than Heero."

Duo and Heero share a look over Quatre's body. I ignore them, my attention still fixed on Quatre. I'm the only one to see him slip. He really is in pain, and can't avoid showing it, when his eyes meet mine.

I nod, the slightest gesture I can make and still have him see. Somehow, I don't want to broadcast his moment of weakness to the others. He smiles weakly, and this time it's not faked.

Is he trying to let us handle this? Trying to thank me for not making a fuss? Or to apologize for letting his cheerful mask slip in front of me? My fingertip traces a spiral on his stomach. I almost want to tell him that I prefer this vulnerable smile of his to his strained cheerfulness. At least it's honest.

Admitting his weakness, facing it, if only for a moment, seems to make him seem stronger. When Trowa glances back a second later, and Duo and Heero return to their vigilance over Quatre, the vulnerable look has already vanished.


End file.
